Thursday, February 11, 2010

WHAT TECHNOLOGY PROVIDERS ARE SAYING
M2M magazine invited leaders in the wireless sensor networking space to share their expertise on both the business and technological aspects of implementing sensor networking technology.

PART 1: BUSINESS QUESTIONS
1. Bottomline: Are sensor networks past their experimental phase, and does the technology really work?
2. Cost: What determines the total cost of a typical sensor-network deployment?
3. Time: What usually determines the amount of time required to deploy a sensor network?
4. Scalability: How much does the cost and complexity of a sensor network increase with the number of nodes?
5. Management: What is required to manage a sensor network on a daily basis?
6. Troubleshooting: Who is typically responsible for fixing problems with a sensor network after deployment?
7. Interface: How is sensor data usually presented to the end user?
8. Integration: How can companies integrate sensor data with other business systems?
9. Duration: How should adopters approach a temporary installation compared to a permanent one?
10. ROI: What are the best ways to measure return-on-investment for a sensor network?

PART 2: TECHNOLOGY QUESTIONS
1. Resources: What level of technical skill is required to set up and maintain a sensor network?
2. Setup: How is a sensor network installed and activated?
3. Logistics: What are the range limits and physical limitations of a sensor network?
4. Power: What should an adopter understand about power requirements and battery life?
5. Security: How can an adopter make sure its sensor-network data is secure?
6. Reliability: What steps should an adopter take to ensure reliability of the network?
7. Infrastructure: How can a company leverage its existing network infrastructure when deploying a sensor network?
8. Hardware: What criteria should adopters use for selecting a hardware platform?
9. Intelligence: When should a sensor network have distributed processing capability?
10 (a). Standards: What should adopters understand about the standards associated with sensor networking?
10 (b). More Standards: Which proprietary protocols should adopters avoid?